At the polls, the minority makes all the decisions

At the polls, the minority makes all the decisions

By Mark Collins Friday, 17 October 2008

Low voter turnout means just a few people steer city’s growth, spending.

The company a city hires to collect trash, the people elected to serve on the city council and bond elections for millions of dollars all have an impact on every resident in Cedar Park and Leander.

Each year, voters are given the opportunity to have a say in the direction of their city by voting on bonds, propositions and officials to sit on various boards and the city council.

Yet in May 2008, 539 voters out of 25,856 registered voters decided who would sit in place four on the Cedar Park City Council. In 2007, 967 voters out of 20,552 registered voters decided who would sit in place one.

In Leander’s 2006 and 2007 city council elections, an average of 661 voters cast a ballot in contested elections, meaning less than a thousand voters spoke for more than 26,000 citizens of Leander.

When the City of Cedar Park asked voters if it should build a $55 million event center, a little more than 7,700 voters turned out in the November 2006 election — accounting for 23 percent of the voting age population.

Local government

“I’ve been here a long time, and I think this is where it all starts,” said Leander Assistant City Manager Sharon Johnson, who has more than 30 years of experience working in city government. “If it wasn’t for the local government, we wouldn’t need the other. We are where it all begins.”

City council makes decisions on many of the simple details it takes to keep a city running, but it also votes on city-changing issues like incentive packages, annexations and lowering or raising taxes.

From 2000 to 2004, an average of 880 voters elected all seven members of the Cedar Park City Council.

In 2005, council voted to increase the property tax rate by 5 cents. In 2006, city officials approved incentive packages for Endeavor Development that brought 1890 Ranch and wood products manufacturer BMC West.

A year later, the council agreed to terms with the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority over Toll 183A.

In Leander, the city council has been responsible for the two largest developments in the city’s history: granting incentive packages to Development 2000 for the development of the Gateway at Leander and numerous agreements to make the Leander T, a roadway in the transit-oriented development, a reality.

“When you’re voting at the local level, that’s when your voice and your particular vote probably reaches the furthest because at the local level turnout doesn’t happen to be as high,” Leander councilmember Vic Villarreal said. “When you’re voting at the local level, your voice is magnified.”

Voter turnout

Williamson County Elections Administrator Rick Barron said 40,000 new voters registered since February 2007, but that most of them did so to be able to vote in the primaries and the upcoming presidential election.

Following the presidential election, Barron said many of these voters will allow their information to expire and “go into suspense” until the next presidential election. It is a pattern Barron is accustomed to seeing.

“It is our job to make sure people can register easily, know where to vote and that the counting is accurate,” Barron said. “It’s up to the officials, political action groups and community groups to get the vote out.”

One such example is the Leander Learning for Building Political Action Committee. The pro-bond committee was formed to raise awareness of LISD’s May 2007 bond election and inform voters of the district’s need for funding. Nearly 10,000 voters turned out to cast a ballot.

Villarreal said he feels voter turnout is influenced by the amount of media coverage an election receives.

“I’m not certain there is a responsibility to draw voters out. We have an educated electorate. They read the papers and they become very knowledgeable,” Villarreal said. “In the city, we are somewhat limited in how we can convey our platform. We rely on the papers, and people know that, so they become educated by reading the newspapers. If we have a bond election, that is naturally going to get more press coverage.”

Cedar Park citizen Larry Schuler ran for city council place four in May 2008. He said the most difficult part of his campaign was getting his name out and encouraging people to vote.

“With a limited budget, it is hard to find a forum to state your platform,” Schuler said. “I appeared in all the major newspapers, put up signs and knocked on doors, but we still had so few people show up.”

Early voting

Programs designed to make it easier for voters go underutilized, said Williamson County elections employee Julie Seippel.

“I don’t understand why more people don’t vote early; it is definitely not being utilized like it should,” Seippel said. “In general, it is always better to vote early. The lines are so much shorter, and you can really vote anywhere in the county as opposed to just in your precinct.

“Plus, if it turns out there is something wrong with your registration, you can get that taken care of before the end of early voting and still vote.”

The State of Texas requires voters to register 30 days prior to the election, and the elections office offers a variety of ways to register. Early voting begins Oct. 20, two weeks prior to the election date.

“A lot of times, people don’t even know the local elections in May are going on, regardless of all the signs. The signs become kind of ever-present. They’re up for re-election again, but it seems like they were just up for election,” Seippel said.

With Leander and Cedar Park experiencing unprecedented growth and change, local government may be more important than ever.

“The citizens need to be able to control what goes on in their own community,” said Johnson. “I don’t think we need the upper- level government sending down mandates with no money. Local citizens should have a say in how their tax dollars are spent.”